What's on the air (Mar-June 1931)

Page 10 WHAT'S ON THE AIR April, 1931 Norman Brokenshire, Columbia announcer, pulled a bone when he said his No. 11 /4s were the biggest feet in radiodom. "Tiny" Berman, Gargantuan bass player of the Merry Madcaps of Station WTIC, was quick to let Brokenshire know that he wears a No. 14 shoe, and that when his cobbler ships a pair to him from New York they come in separate boxes — one shoe to the box. Radio Announcer — Give me some of that prepared monoaceticacidester of salicylicacid. Druggist — Do you mean aspirin? R. A.— Yeh! I never can think of that name. Friday nights are busy nights for Maurice Chevalier as the days for outdoor sports draw nearer. The French comedian, heard weekly through an NBC network on the Chase and Sanborn program, holds open house for representatives of music-publishing houses on that night. Also it is fight night at Madison Square Garden, and the entertainer hasn't missed a bout there since he has been in the United States. He is an inveterate fight fan, and from the opening bell of the first preliminary can be heard rooting lustily for his favorite scrapper. His colleagues of the Hawaiian troupe of Station WTIC, of Hartford, are telling a story at the expense of Bob Nawahine, one of the Ilima Islanders of the WTIC staff. Bob fell asleep while listening to his radio at two o'clock one morning. When he awoke it was daylight, and to his sleep-drugged senses came the terrifying realization that the Ilima Islanders were on the air. He lost no time in reaching the studios, where, to his chagrin, he found that the music he had been listening to had been broadcast by electrical transcription. He and his fellow-Hawaiians had made the record many months before. "You know," said old Bob, narrating the incident, "the thing that scared me most was to hear that bass voice. I said to myself, 'That bass singer's good! I'll bet he was hired to take my place.' " Each Monday, for the last six or seven months, Guy Lombardo has selected a new popular song which, in his opinion, would become a hit. The selections were given their radio debuts during the Robert Burns' Panatela programs on WABC and other Columbia stations. Lombardo, while going over his averages late last week, discovered, to his own astonishment, that 90 per cent, of the numbers he selected had become outstanding hits. Some of these were: "When the Organ Played at Twilight," "You're Driving Me Crazy," "Sweet Jenny Lee," "Lonesome Lover," "Blue Again" and "Heartaches," If you don't think they're hits, listen in any night and count how many times these selections are played and replayed. Sir Hubert Wilkins, who plans in early May to attempt an exploration of the Arctic regions by submarine, will apply to the Federal Radio Commission for authority to install a transmitter and to have temporary use of a high frequency channel so that he may broadcast a running account of the expedition's experiences. If permission is granted, it is expected that one of the chains will arrange to rebroadcast his story so that it will be available for the world-wide radio audience. Sir Hubert recently talked to the Australian listeners from Schenectady; his message, carried by one of General Elcctric's short-wave transmitters, was picked up and rebroadcast by a chain of Australian stations. A letter recently received from Staffordshire, England, by Station WTIC of Hartford, was addressed thus: "Mr. Ted Waite; announcer of Grand Melodies Programme; Walter Fiffe, organist; Hardfoot, Connecticut." Proof-read, the address would appear as follows: "Mr. Fred Wade, announcer of Strand Melodies Program; Walter Seifert, organist; Hartford, Connecticut." And how Mr. Staffordshire learned the correct spelling of "Connecticut" is a mystery. Felix Ferdinando and his orchestra have opened an engagement at the Park Central Hotel, New York City, from which point their music will be broadcast over the Columbia network daily except Sunday. From Mondays to Saturdays, inclusive, the orchestra will play for broadcasting from 1 to 1:30 P. M., E. S. T., in addition to two evening programs, Wednesdays at 7:15 and Fridays at 7:30. Ferdinando, a lieutenant of the United States Marine Corps, had the distinction of conducting the Thirteenth Regiment U. S. M. C. Band at the formal dedication of the Pershing Stadium at Paris in 1919. Within the past six months radio listeners have come forward in increasing numbers with pleas that they be permitted to "sit in" at broadcasting studios so that they could see their favorite entertainers and programs. So great has been the demand for studio guest-passes that Adolph Opfinger, Columbia production director, has had to resort to borrowing the theatre's technique. Hundreds of portable chairs, for example, have been set up in the unused parts of all studios. These are roped off and laid out much the same as theatre seats. Fire regulations make it necessary that Columbia officials issue tickets for each guest permitted to enter the studios. Thus, just as in the theatre, the fire department keeps an accurate check on the attendance. The old home town levels all men. Proof lies in an incident that occurred recently at Station WTIC of Hartford. Tony Pestritto left Middletown, Conn., to join Aaronson's Commanders. He toured vaudeville; played in a Broadway show, at night clubs and hotels in New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles; appeared in a couple of talking movies, and finally wound up by buying a night club for himself back in Connecticut. Jack O'Brien left Middletown to play with Jan Garber at Coral Gables in Florida, then organized a dance band and shipped on one of the Dollar liners, appearing in Honolulu, Manila, Yokohama, Calcutta, Bombay, Cairo, and winding up at the noted Les Ambassadeurs in Paris. Alley Wrubel left Middletown to cast his lot in Tin Pan Alley in the metropolis, where he wrote music and helped produce "The Garrick Gaieties" and "The Vanderhilt Revue." One night, while Tony was tooting on his saxophone in his Club Hollywood, in walked Jack O'Brien. A few minutes later in sauntered Alley Wrubel. Within three minutes Jack was at the piano, Alley at the trumpet, joining Tony in a happy rendition of "You'll Do It Some Day," the song Alley wrote when the three boys were schoolmates in Middletown. Sh-h-h! radio enters an era of mystery. Masked figures, romantic adventurers in disguise, voices emerging from rings of smoke — all part of broadcasting secrecy. There's no personality, for instance, quite so sinister nor quite so hidden and screened from the curious public eye as "The Shadow" of the Detective Story Magazine half-hour. For half a year they've kept his identity a secret, and now they offer prizes up to $1,000 for descriptions of him. He gives his listeners a clue each week. Three days after he had changed the name of his little dog from "Trouble" to "Lucky," B. A. Rolfe, leader of the NBC Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra, was hailed before a magistrate on account of the canine. "Lucky," mascot of the orchestra, incurred the wrath of a bigger dog, whose owner had the director arrested when the latter interfered in the fight. A contralto voice is heard every Monday night in the Robert Burns' Panatela half-hour. No one — except, of course, the sponsors and Guy Lombardo, whose orchestra accompanies her — knows the identity of the lady in the smoke. Visitors often come to the studio and expect to see the mysterious young soloist, but are disappointed when, just as the time for her entrance is reached, her voice is heard only through the studio loud-speaker. She sings in another studio! Then, again, there's the Old Dutch Girl whose early-morning broadcasts are familiar to many. But she's a big secret too! Here's a clue, though: She is permitted to sing on one evening program a week under her own name. Now do you know? Double sh-h-h's! Don Amaizo enters. Listeners may hear this gay Spaniard's music on the Columbia chain, exclusive of WABC, Monday evenings at 10:30 o'clock. Not only is the Don's identity concealed very carefully, but, to secure added secrecy, he is put on the air from studios entirely apart from any of the stations actually broadcasting his program. He never speaks. Only his violin is heard, although the entire production is built around him. Do you know, for instance, the real-life identities of Mary and Bob? These True Story adventurers are entering their third year of radio secrecy. Graybar "Mr. and Mrs." kept listeners guessing for months, but, all of a sudden, some one spilled the beans and now everybody knows that "Joe" is Jack Smart and "Vi" is Jane Houston. Not that it matters, but did you know that — "The Shadow," sinister mystery man of the underworld, actually gives clues to his identity at the conclusion of Defective Story broadcasts Thursday nights? Dr. Howard W. Haggard, who speaks Sundays at 8 p. m. for Eastman Kodak Company on "Devils, Drugs and Doctors," is one of the inventors of the much mentioned "H. & H. Inhalator"? "Hank Simmons' Showboat," one of radio's oldest dramatic productions and which has retained its original cast since its incepthird anniversary in 2^L tion, will celebrate its June? Richie Craig; Jr., Blue Ribbon Malt Jester, presents half of his radio act Tuesday nights lying prone on the floor? A special microphone is used to pick up his voice. Toscha Seidel, the violinist, wears in the lapel of his coat a tiny watch, cleverly constructed in the form of a button? Lorna Fantin, Old Gold character reader, is very pretty and is making hearts jump in the studios? WABC and WPG are regularly heard in England? Bradford Browne has just taken the first pictures of Bradford, Jr.? Columbia's fan-mail department announces that radio listeners wrote twice as many letters in 1930 as in 192 9? Louis A. Witten, Royal Hour announcer, was the first to broadcast a public event from the cockpit of an airplane? Audrey Marsh, nineteen-year-old Columbia soprano, played a leading role in "Abie's Irish Rose" for two years? Seventeen years ago Ted Husing was a mascot for the Columbia University athletic team? The violin you hear Emery Deutsch playing was willed to him by the famous gypsy Janci Breknavatchi? Guy Lombardo's ambition is to sleep nights instead of days? The theme song played by Ann Leaf has been called "Night" for want of a better title? Barbara Maurel, Columbia contralto, was born in Alsace-Lorraine? The Three Doctors ad lib all their sketches? Young Man (during radio audition) — And I can imitate any kind of a bird. Impatient Director — Can you do a homing pigeon? Milking cows on a farm in Alabama, Louis Dean wondered what he would be doing when he grew up. That was twenty years ago. Today Dean is twenty-nine and is an announcer for the Columbia Broadcasting System. His home town is Valley Head, Ala. Schooled there, he worked on the farm until he went to Washington and Lee University. He enlisted in the Navy in 1918, left the Navy in 1920, and came to New York, where he held nine varied positions, until he finally found his forte in radio. m Art Gillham, "the whispering pianist" who long has been a feature of the air waves, has affixed his signature to a management contract with the Columbia Broadcasting System, over whose network he soon will be heard several times weekly. Back in 1922, at a Chicago station, Gillham made his entrance as a broadcaster, playing the accompaniments for studio singers. One day, in response to the familiar "dare," he embarked on his own as a vocalist. An immediate hit, he was engaged forthwith as a novelty singer. Since that occasion he has broadcast over more than three hundred stations throughout the United States and Canada, receiving the sobriquet of "the whispering pianist." His style is informal, and, whether he is talking or singing, his voice is never forced. IMPORTANT TO FRIENDS OF WTIC AND WBAL The following will probably be the April schedule for the NBC synchronization demonstration: Sunday — 10 a. M. to 7:45 p. M.; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. 7:45 P. M. to midnight; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. Monday — 8 a. M. to 4 p. M.; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. 4 p. M. to midnight; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. Tuesday — 7 A. M. to 4 p. M.; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. 4 p. M. to midnight; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. Wednesday — 8 A. M. to 4 p. m.; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. 4 p. M. to midnight; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. Thu rsday — 7 A. M. to 4 p. M.; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. 4 p. m. to midnight; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. Friday — 8 a. M. to 4 p. M.; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. 4 p. M. to midnight; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. Saturday — 7 a. m. to 4 p. m.; WTIC on 1060 K.; WBAL on 760 K. 4 p. M. to midnight; WBAL on 1060 K.; WTIC on 660 K. « Columbia has prepared a new announcers' script test. All applicants must read it well and clearly before they even reach the first stages of announcerdom. During one of the announcers' auditions, 3 studio attendant ushered in a candidate. After giving him the preliminary instructions, the attendant handed him the difficult script. The applicant, who might have passed for Bull Montana any day in the week, glanced through the first three paragraphs, swiftly turned about and walked out of the studio, saying: "O. K., Kid! . . . It's all right by me!"